Castle's Christmas Wish
by xRavenDollx
Summary: Castle learns how important the gift of life is when the life of someone very dear to him is threatened...


Castle's Christmas Wish

This is for you, Jan (AriesOx17)! Merry Christmas!

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own the characters or ideas from Castle. I am writing this for fan fiction purposes only and do not plan to profit from this story.

Rated: PG-13 / T

Genre: Romance / Angst

_Castle's POV:_

I was there when it happened...

It was Christmas Eve. We had finally discovered the real killer in a double homicide case we were working on, so we rushed to find him. I followed, staying a safe distance away as she asked me to, and witnessed as she and the other detectives and officers stormed into the place.

He had victim number three tied up in a chair, and fortunately, she was still alive, though she had been beat up. The killer sighed in defeat and didn't make any moves to run as Kate walked up to him with handcuffs. Then, suddenly, just as she was only inches away from him, he pulled out a gun and shot her.

"No!" I screamed, trying to run to her, but was held back by an officer.

After she fell to the ground, there were several more gunshots, this time aimed at the criminal. He was dead before he hit the ground.

As soon as the officer moved out of my way, I rushed to her. My heart sank when I noticed she was so still. I froze. Detective Ryan had rushed over to her at the same time as me and was checking for her pulse.

"We've got a pulse, but let's get her to the hospital asap! She's losing blood fast!" he announced.

I rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital, but when we got there, the doctors took her and rushed her into emergency surgery. I was left to wait anxiously in the waiting room with Detectives Ryan and Esposito for what seemed like an eternity. Only fifteen minutes into the wait, Montgomery showed up and waited with us also.

It was close to midnight when a doctor came to us to give us the news. She was smiling. That was a great sign.

"The good news is she made it through surgery well."

"What's the bad news?" I asked.

Her smile went away and was replaced with a look of worry.

"She lost a lot of blood. Chances are, she'll wake up and make a full recovery... but she went through a lot of trauma that her body may not be able to handle. There's a chance that she may not wake up."

There was a deafening silence among the three of us. I was the one to break it after a couple moments.

"Can we go see her?"

"Sure, follow me."

When we got there, I had to force back the tears as I looked at Kate, lying so still and pale in the hospital bed.

I was frozen, still in a state of shock as Ryan, Esposito, and Montgomery approached her and said a few encouraging things to her. Then they stepped out to leave me alone with her, all three of them patting me on the arm on their way out.

I slowly walked over to the chair beside her bed and sat down, staring at her, hoping for some type of movement.

"Please wake up, Kate," I said to her and waited a moment. She still didn't move. I gently took her cool, pale hand in mine and held it. "The guy who shot you is dead. There's no need to worry about him anymore. He won't be hurting anyone else. But listen, we all need you... _I_ need you."

For several minutes, I sat in silence, staring at her, still unmoving. By that time, it was after midnight, early Christmas morning. My heart ached so badly for her. I didn't know it was possible to hurt this much.

"I've been meaning to tell you something for a long time... something important. If I could have one Christmas wish granted, anything in the world, it would be for you to wake up and look me in the eyes. Don't leave me behind before I ever get a chance to really tell you..." I paused and sighed sadly, "to tell you that I love you."

I looked down at the floor, tears blurring my vision. I just couldn't hold them back any longer.

Then, I felt her hand move slightly in mine. I squeezed it gently and she squeezed back. I looked up at her, excited. Her eyes fluttered slightly as she slowly opened her eyes. She turned her head and when she saw me, she smiled. I smiled back, more than I ever thought I could.

"You're crying," she said, still smiling.

"Um, yeah, sorry," I said as I wiped my tears, embarrassed.

"Don't be sorry. It's sweet."

"How are you feeling?"

"To be honest, I'm in a bit of pain, but I'll manage. Hey, I'm alive and conscious. That's all that matters, right?" She laughed, and when she did, she cringed in pain, placing her free hand on her midsection, where her bandaged wound was.

"I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry about? You didn't do this to me. I should be thanking you for being here with me. It means so much to me to have had someone here with me when I opened my eyes," she said, looking into my eyes and adding, "especially you."

I couldn't help but smile and blush when she said that. Now, just one thing lingered in my mind. Had she heard anything I said to her before?

"Just wondering, did you hear anything I said to you before?" I asked nervously.

"What part?" she asked and we both laughed.

"Ha, ha, very funny. You're trying to get me to repeat it."

"Yes, I am. It would be nice to hear it again, especially the last part... just so I know I wasn't dreaming."

At that moment, when I looked in her eyes, there was something there I hadn't ever noticed before. It gave me a warm, happy feeling seeing that look in her eyes.

"I love you," I said to her once more, smiling.

She smiled back, pulled me toward her, and kissed me passionately. I wanted the kiss to go on forever, but when it finally ended, I was happy to see her smile again and see the beautiful look of happiness that was still in her eyes.

"I love you, too," she said, kissing me again.

The room was suddenly filled with clapping and cheering as Ryan, Esposito, and Montgomery now walked in along with some of the detectives and officers who were at the scene earlier. When our kiss ended, we looked up at them, smiling brightly. We didn't care that they saw us, or what they may have heard before. We didn't care much about anything, except that we had each other and that's all that mattered to us.

My Christmas wish came true, and that's all that mattered to me.


End file.
